The California Senate will consider SB 1172, a bill that prevents children from being sent to ex-gay therapy and requires all adult clients of the therapy to sign an informed consent form outlining its harms and ineffectiveness. The legislation is the first of its kind, but could serve as important model to protect children in all states from the stigmatizing trauma of trying to repress their sexual orientation.

The Religious Coalition was founded in 1973 to organize religious groups to defend the gains in Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruling that protected abortion as part of a woman's right to privacy. But the group has recently broadened and deepened its agenda under the rubric of reproductive justice, since access to health care and education, economic security and a safe environment profoundly affect meaningful reproductive choices. The Religious Coalition says it sees this as a necessary response to the wave of state-level anti-abortion legislation in recent years and as a way of building powerful alliances across a range of concerns.

Following claims by the Mail on Sunday that the Tory Chief Whip, Patrick McLoughlin told MPs that proposals for equal marriage will be “kicked into the long grass”, the Prime Minister has used a pre-local election interview to reaffirm his commitment to the cause.

The Mail on Sunday claimed that Mr McLoughlin privately assured anxious Tory backbenchers that the current proposals for equal civil marriage in England and Wales will “not come to a vote,” and that they will be “kicked into the long grass.”

Today, David Cameron told the Evening Standard that he is “clear about my views” on the issue. He said:“I ask myself the question, why is it that we deny gay couples the ability to get married, and I don’t think that’s right.